Monday, 28 November 2011

Pluto

Pluto meansPluto was thought to be the god to whom all men must eventually go. Romans believed him to be the god of the underworld. In Greek mythology, he is known as Hades.

The Dwarf PlanetPluto was the only planet to be named by a kid. After the planet was discovered in 1930, an 11-year-old girl who lived in Oxford, England, by the name of Venetia Burney, suggested that this new planet needed to be named after the Roman god of the underworld. Venetia's grandfather sent this suggestion to the Lowell Observatory and the name was accepted.

Pluto is smaller than 7 of the moons in the Solar System. It is about two-thirds smaller than Earth's moon. Because it is so small, many scientists don't consider it a planet at all. In 1999, a group of scientists attempted to re-classify Pluto as a comet. On August 24, 2006, Pluto's status was officially changed from planet to dwarf planet. For decades, children have been taught in school that there are nine planets in our Solar System. However, with this change, there are now only eight planets. Also because of this change, there is a new category of small planets known as plutoids.

The only spacecraft to get somewhat close to Pluto was the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble was able to take pictures of Pluto and its moons for scientists to study. Little is known about Pluto and its moons because it is so far away.